Grade.us vs Podium
We give Grade.us a 2.4 GPA and Podium a 2.0, out of 4.0. Grade.us grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. Podium grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Grade.us
White-label review management for agencies and local businesses
Podium
Google review requests by text, plus a lead inbox for local businesses
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAGrade.usFair | 2.0GPAPodiumFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CSmall Business is $99 a month billed yearly ($124 monthly) for one location. Set against its listed rivals, the local review tools, that's the middle. More locations get cheaper, from $60 each down to $25 at 101+, which suits agencies and chains more than one shop. | DCore is $399 a month, and Podium doesn't show whether that's billed monthly or yearly; it says the final cost depends on industry, integrations, volume and carrier fees, plus $5 a month for 10DLC. Set against its listed rivals, that's the dear end, though it buys a lead inbox and texting too. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial for 3 seats with no credit card. Texting, the API and the white-label dashboard aren't in it unless sales turns them on, and there are no refunds afterwards. | FNo free plan and no trial on record. Plans are bought through Podium's sales team, so there's no way in without a call. |
| Features | BThe whole local review job: review landing pages for hundreds of sites, email, text and MMS requests with follow-ups, monitoring with alerts, replies to Google and Facebook, review streams with schema, social sharing and branded reports. Agencies get reseller tools on top. | CText review requests to Google, Facebook and industry sites, reminders, a leaderboard and AI drafted replies, which post on their own from Pro. That's the basics: no website review widgets or wider review monitoring are on record, and most of the money goes on the inbox, texting and phones. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. There's a fair bit to set up: campaigns, landing pages, integrations and reports, and the agency side adds client accounts and branding. Built for marketers more than shop owners. | A4.74 from about 31,800 App Store ratings, the best score in this category by far. Sending a review link by text is about as simple as asking gets. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Google Business Profile, Facebook, Salesforce, HubSpot, QuickBooks Online, Mailchimp, Constant Contact and Zapier, plus an API. No phone or desktop app is listed. | BWeb, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, with Google, Facebook and Instagram. That's a short list of connections, and there's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | agencies reselling review management | Google reviews by text, inside a lead inbox |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Grade.us and Podium. How we grade
Price against what you get
Grade.us starts at $99 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Podium starts at $399 a month and scores 3.0.
Podium scores higher, and starts $300 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other customer review tools on the chart, none scores higher than Grade.us for less, and none scores higher than Podium for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Grade.us starts at $99 per month for 1 location, billed annually ($124 monthly). Podium starts at $399 per month; billing basis not shown.
- Only Podium lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Podium lists a browser extension.
- Grade.us also covers reports.
- Podium also covers AI agents, live chat, business phone line, business texting and sMS marketing.
At a glance
| Grade.us | Podium | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $99 per month for 1 location, billed annually ($124 monthly) | $399 per month; billing basis not shown |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with 3 seats, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Grade Us, Inc. | Podium Corp Inc. |
| Price read from | grade.us | podium.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Grade.us
- Marketing agencies reselling review management under their own brand
- Multi-location businesses that want one price per location
- Local businesses that want more reviews on Google and Facebook
Podium
- Car dealers, home services and med spas that work by text
- Local businesses that want more Google reviews from a text link
- Teams that want leads, reviews and payments in one inbox
Worth knowing
Grade.us
- There is no free plan, and Grade.us says it does not give refunds; cancelling keeps access until the paid period ends.
- Text messaging, API access and the white-label dashboard are not in the free trial unless sales turns them on.
- Putting your own logo on the dashboard costs $440 a year, free at 100 seats.
- The free trial covers 3 seats; after it ends you choose a plan to keep using the account.
Podium
- Plans are bought through sales; Podium says the final monthly cost depends on industry, integrations, volume and carrier fees.
- Bulk texts are capped at 250 credits a month on Core and 500 on Pro, and US locations pay a $5 monthly 10DLC carrier fee.
- Phone seats cost extra: $30 per user a month for 1 to 4 users, $25 for 5 or more.
- Automatic AI review replies, review response templates and surveys start at Pro.
Key features
Grade.us
- Review funnel landing pages
- Sends customers to a mobile review page with instructions for hundreds of review sites, plus widgets, buttons, QR codes and an on-site kiosk mode.
- Email and text campaigns
- Customizable email, SMS and MMS review request sequences with automatic follow-ups, de-duplication and bulk uploads of recipients.
- Review monitoring
- Watches major, local and industry review sites, sends alerts and lets you reply to Google and Facebook reviews from one dashboard.
- Review marketing
- Streams reviews to your website with schema markup, a floating carousel and a WordPress plugin, and auto-shares good reviews to social media.
- White-label reports
- Branded, scheduled review performance reports by web, PDF or CSV, with campaign open, click and conversion tracking.
- Reseller tools
- Agencies get prospect reports, a local client finder, pitch decks and custom domains, and can add their logo to the dashboard.
Podium
- Review requests by text
- Texts customers a link to review the business on Google, Facebook or industry review sites, with review reminder automations and a reviews leaderboard.
- AI review replies
- Every plan drafts replies to Google and Facebook reviews with AI; Pro posts them automatically, which is an add-on on Core.
- Lead inbox
- Texts, calls, website chat, contact forms, third-party leads and Facebook, Instagram and Google messages arrive in one inbox.
- Text marketing and automations
- Bulk text campaigns with images, plus automations for payment reminders, appointments, referrals, birthdays and after-hours replies.
- Phones
- Podium Phones adds calling from the same number as texts, call routing, phone menus, recordings and AI call summaries.
- AI Employee
- An AI agent called Jerry, added to any plan, that sells, schedules and talks with customers day and night.
Plans
Grade.us
Small Business$99
per month for 1 location, billed annually ($124 monthly)
One location with review request campaigns, review monitoring, review widgets and reports.
Multi Location$60
per location / month, billed annually ($75 monthly)
For 2 to 10 locations; the rate falls with volume, to $25 per location at 101+ on annual billing. Sold through a demo.
AgencyCustom
White-label review management to resell to clients, by quote; the page's calculator lists it from $400 a month for 10+ seats.
Podium
Core$399
per month; billing basis not shown
Lead inbox, website chat, Google and Facebook review requests with AI replies, 250 bulk message credits and 5 numbers. Sold through sales.
Pro$599
per month; billing basis not shown
Adds automatic AI review replies, review response templates, lead routing, text surveys and 500 bulk credits. Sold through sales.
SignatureCustom
Custom plan with AI scheduler, salesperson and marketer agents, multi-location tools and discounts on phones and bulk messages.
Ways to pay less
Grade.us
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Grade.us's plans page offers 20% off on annual billing: Small Business is $99 a month billed annually against $124 billed monthly.
Podium
No public discounts listed.
